Stevan Stricklin has been a Weedsport student since Kindergarten. Now that he has reached his senior year, his time at school is leading up to pursing the real world. Although he has enjoyed his time at Weedsport, Cayuga Onondaga BOCES has offered him more opportunities. He is part of the BOCES culinary class and helps fundraise in Skills USA. Both of these programs are going to help him achieve a business and culinary college education, though his main focus is cooking. Steve has enjoyed getting a chance to participate in BOCES program. Not only does it get him out of school for half a day but it has prepared him more for the real world. Being at BOCES is similar to having a job, you are treated more as an adult and you have a task to do that must be done in a timely manner. This aspect can lead to some stress but if done correctly it can lead to success, which would be applicable to Steve. Based on how well he has done in his culinary class, Steve has been the only one selected in his class for certain opportunities.

His teacher chose him to help cater the meal for a large event. Together, they cooked an expensive Italian dinner for 150 people in six hours. Originally Steve only joined the program to eat the food. Once he got more involved, he discovered that cutting things up is his specialty and he loves cooking. He has also become very close with other BOCES students making things more pleasurable. Other than cooking, Stevan enjoys traveling, which is exactly what he plans on doing after high school. He plans on attending Johnson and Wales College in Miami.

Stevan is utmost a people person. He enjoys being with his friend and getting a laugh out of everyone.  His family is very influential to him as well. A defining moment for him in his cooking career was the first time he cooked for his family and everyone gave him positive feedback on how he did. Another person who helped him through his time at school is Mrs. Widrick. Mrs. Widrick’s influence begins with her believing in each and every one of her students. With a small number of students at Weedsport she is on a close basis with many. With Steve in particular she sees a lot of potential, especially because with his hard work at BOCES he has not only found his passion but confidence in himself to obtain an outstanding college education.

“He is going to be a renowned chef and I just hope that someday I have the privilege of eating in a restaurant where he is working because he is just going to do wonderful things,” Mrs. Widrick commented after observing his success. She also mentioned Stevan’s big heart will take him far as well, because he has immense care for others. Overall Steve has enjoyed his time at both Weedsport and BOCES. He has kept a very enthusiastic attitude along the way. He claims his positive persona is the key to his success. Steve’s words of wisdom for future graduates is “think everything’s cool… and everything’s cool.“